Re: The Great Gatsby

Posted by Tim Cole On 2011/11/6 9:53:01

To John (MrBushbutton)

Sued by I Berlin? Really? Maybe it was the lawyers handling the account. Maybe Berlin had a grudge against Riddle. Berlin supposedly loved Taco's cover of "Puttin on the Ritz" which grafted all sorts of Berlin's songs into it.

Anyway, I'll bet they stripped the DVD because they didn't want to pay royalties. I too have the 1974 Paramount Records soundtrack and it gives full credit to Berlin and others. However, those are full arrangements and not the actual movie clips. A good portion of the score is credited to Riddle himself and I'm sure the whole thing revolves around royalties.

Those old Hollywood music men were really good. One of the best was Quincy Jones. Nowadays all you need is a drum machine and a big mouth.

When I get the time I'll sit down and listen to it and see if any of the Nelson stuff matches the I Berlin songbook. You just don't know what goes on in those disputes because sometimes it's just a law firm trying to get royalites for themselves. When I look at Dixieland I see so many songs that are similar to each other - remember those old medleys bands used to play? - it's possible that Riddle played a joke on Berlin by taking credit for bars that he knew Berlin lifted from forgotten stuff like "Under the Double Eagle"